Regression

by AJ/Skald

As I prepare to embark upon another job, it strikes me that employment is essentially juvenile.
What is a boss but a surrogate parent-figure... someone to tell you what to do, when to do it, and
how to do it? An employee is nothing but a grown child-- someone without the initiative or know-how to think and live for themselves.

And so I have regressed. For three full years Ive lived life on my own terms but I am soon to become a child once again. Starting tomorrow, I will no longer be an autonomous adult. Ill have to answer to someone. Someone will tell me how to teach and when to teach. Someone else will decide what I am worth. They will tell me when to show up, what materials to use, what procedures to follow. I have a Masters in TESOL and years of experience and great ideas... but once more I will be an adolescent-- not trusted to make my own decisions.

And yet my position in Hiroshima carries more autonomy than most jobs. Most Ive had were far more intrusive.

So where does this put us, as a society? In terms of cultural evolution, we are still juveniles. We
have not yet graduated to autonomy as a species. We leave our biological parents, but merely trade them for surrogates: teachers, cops, & bosses.

Employment is a phase we must grow out of-- if we are ever to advance beyond our current infantile state.

On a personal level, employment is a phase I must grow out of... lest I remain a child for the
entirety of my life.